Bottom Line:
Because the development of behavioral and emotional regulation depends heavily both on the child's experience within the family context and the child's construals of that experience, children's appraisals of inter-parental conflict are a compelling candidate potentiator of the effects of variation within the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) on liability for ADHD. 304 youth from the local community underwent a multi-informant diagnostic assessment procedure to identify ADHD cases and non-ADHD controls.Youth also completed the Children's Perception of Inter-Parental Conflict (CPIC) scale to assess appraisals of self-blame in relation to their parents' marital disputes.Both high and low serotonergic activity may exert risk for ADHD when coupled with psychosocial distress such as children's self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict.

Background: Serotonin genes have been hypothesized to play a role in the etiology of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); prior work suggests that serotonin may interact with psychosocial stressors in ADHD, perhaps via mechanisms involved in emotional dysregulation. Because the development of behavioral and emotional regulation depends heavily both on the child's experience within the family context and the child's construals of that experience, children's appraisals of inter-parental conflict are a compelling candidate potentiator of the effects of variation within the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) on liability for ADHD.

Results: Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated significant 5HTTLPR x self-blame interactions for ADHD symptoms. Examination of the interactions indicated positive relations between reports of self-blame and ADHD symptoms for those with the high and low serotonin activity genotypes. There was no relation between self-blame and ADHD for those with intermediate activity 5HTTLPR genotypes.

Conclusion: Both high and low serotonergic activity may exert risk for ADHD when coupled with psychosocial distress such as children's self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict. Results are discussed in relation to the role of serotonin in the etiology of the ADHD and related externalizing behaviors.

Mentions:
Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to test for G × E effects. All regression models included the following covariates: age, gender, ethnicity, family composition, and overall conflict frequency/intensity (as reported by the child on the CPIC). All modeling results reported herein include these covariates. Results revealed a significant main effect of self-blame for the total ADHD Index raw score [b = .19, 95% confidence interval .08-.29, p = .003, total R2 = .11], indicating an increase in total ADHD symptoms with higher reports of self-blame. The linear (low activity as risk) and non-linear (low and high activity as risk) main effects of 5HTTLPR genotype were nonsignificant as was the linear × self-blame interaction (all ps > .28) However, the non-linear × self-blame interaction was significant [b = .17, 95% confidence interval .06-.24, p < .001, ΔR2 = .02, total R2 = .13]. Examination of the simple slopes revealed that there was no relationship between ADHD symptoms and self-blame for those with the intermediate activity genotypes (r = -.05, p = .53). In contrast, a significant and positive relationship between self-blame and ADHD emerged for those with the high (La/La, r = .32, p < .001) and low (Lg/Lg, Lg/short, short/short, r = .40, p < .001) activity genotypes (See Figure 1).

Bottom Line:
Because the development of behavioral and emotional regulation depends heavily both on the child's experience within the family context and the child's construals of that experience, children's appraisals of inter-parental conflict are a compelling candidate potentiator of the effects of variation within the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) on liability for ADHD. 304 youth from the local community underwent a multi-informant diagnostic assessment procedure to identify ADHD cases and non-ADHD controls.Youth also completed the Children's Perception of Inter-Parental Conflict (CPIC) scale to assess appraisals of self-blame in relation to their parents' marital disputes.Both high and low serotonergic activity may exert risk for ADHD when coupled with psychosocial distress such as children's self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict.

Background: Serotonin genes have been hypothesized to play a role in the etiology of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); prior work suggests that serotonin may interact with psychosocial stressors in ADHD, perhaps via mechanisms involved in emotional dysregulation. Because the development of behavioral and emotional regulation depends heavily both on the child's experience within the family context and the child's construals of that experience, children's appraisals of inter-parental conflict are a compelling candidate potentiator of the effects of variation within the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) on liability for ADHD.

Results: Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated significant 5HTTLPR x self-blame interactions for ADHD symptoms. Examination of the interactions indicated positive relations between reports of self-blame and ADHD symptoms for those with the high and low serotonin activity genotypes. There was no relation between self-blame and ADHD for those with intermediate activity 5HTTLPR genotypes.

Conclusion: Both high and low serotonergic activity may exert risk for ADHD when coupled with psychosocial distress such as children's self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict. Results are discussed in relation to the role of serotonin in the etiology of the ADHD and related externalizing behaviors.